Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of our guests. It has been a really fascinating process today. It has been very informative. It was very exciting to hear everything that was said today. I will try to keep it short. I will come to the Scottish National Party first. I warmly welcome everyone but I am really delighted to see them represented here today. Will the witnesses speak a little more about the White Paper that was produced ahead of the referendum? It was a phenomenal document and much work went into that. What role did it play in the campaign? What lessons can we learn from it when we are looking to plan and prepare for possible potential constitutional change? Do the witnesses believe the Irish Government should be working to produce a similar document? That is my first question.

I warmly welcome Mr. Raymond McCord. It is lovely to see him again. I always love to see Mr. McCord here in Leinster House. I also welcome Mr. Paul J. Farrell and Mr. Paul F. Farrell. We had some unionist voices in here a couple of weeks ago. Those representatives gave powerful presentations and it was really wonderful to hear their voices. Some of it was very moving and I was very emotional. They mentioned some of the issues that were raised in the submissions today such as the secularisation of our education system and protecting unionist culture and traditions. What kinds of measures would the witnesses like to see adopted around all of that? Mr. McCord also wrote in his submission about the damage that paramilitarism continues to inflict on communities in the North. How does Mr. McCord believe this could be tackled on the island of Ireland?

Professor Colin Harveysaid there is scope for co-operation between the human rights commissions on both sides of the Border to focus on human rights challenges in both jurisdictions, and to ensure any constitutional change is grounded in the principles of human rights. Will Professor Harvey speak about some of these challenges and how they can be addressed? Will he also speak a little more on the importance of planning and preparing?

Mr. Paul J. Farrell referred to offices moving. I would love to go to Belfast. I would love our office to be moved to Belfast and I would love to live there for a while.